Rare old pictures of Tirumala Tirupati

Alipiri Gopuram

 Bommala Gopuram (now dusmantled)

 Image of Krishna Devaraya with queens (in Pratima Matapam)

 Lord Krishna in Yamunat Turai

 Mahadwara Gopuram

 A natural rock formation in the form of an arch (known has Sila Torana)

 Padma Nidhi at main entrance

 Pratima Matapam (view from inside)

 Sankha Nidhi at main entrance

 Sannidhi street

 Sri Anjaneya Swamy

 View of the hill from Tirupati

 The Vimana

Tirupati Balaji to get his own sandalwood forest

Lord Venkateshwara of Tirupati has sandalwood stocks to last till 2010 and half a dozen civet cats to provide perfumes for the daily rituals. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam has decided to raise sandalwood trees in its own forest to ensure that the Lord never runs out of them.

Lord Venkateshwara is offered perfumes like punugu (musk derived from the civet cat, a nocturnal mammal), kasturi (from musk deer), chandanam (sandalwood) and those from aromatic plants.

The TTD purchases most of the sandalwood required for the rituals from the open market or the forest department. The sandalwood is grown mostly in Kadapa and Chittoor districts. "They are now planning to raise sandalwood in the TTD forest tracts".

The TTD has six civet cats in its zoo to supply musk. This mammal is found mostly in East Indies and Africa. The musk of the civet cat is used as a stabilising agent in perfumes. Although civets were at one time killed for their musk, they are now "recycled" for the purpose.

The musk comes from excretions scraped from the civet cat's perianal glands. Both male and female civets excrete the strong-smelling musk.

When the animals are in heat, they excrete the musk on the sandalwood logs placed inside the enclosures. It comes from a natural process," .